Blog: Too many choices beats the alternative

Readers of a certain age will remember well the famous scene in the 1984 comedy “Moscow on the Hudson” in which Vladimir Ivanoff, a Soviet circus musician who defected to the United States (played superbly by the late Robin Williams) visits an American supermarket for the first time. In the coffee aisle, he becomes so overwhelmed by the selection of brands that he throws a temper tantrum, knocking product off the shelves and collapsing to the floor while repeating “Coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee, coffee,” his voice crescendoing into a wail.

Although I don’t think anyone would envy the bare grocery shelves of Soviet-era Russia, many American consumers today seem to feel similarly besieged by the barrage of brands in a traditional supermarket and on e-commerce sites.  That’s the premise of the new e-tailer, Brandless.com, which claims to provide a “streamlined shopping” experience.

“We’re not overwhelming you with options (there aren’t 100 pasta sauces to compare; there are three),” states the company, which offers descriptively named private brand products for a fixed price point of $3.

Lidl likewise stresses on its website that its stores simplify shopping: “Instead of offering a myriad of brands in every category, our stores offer carefully curated selections that are top-quality and best prices. So your precious time is not spent sifting through endless versions of products you don’t want.” A number of other retailers are making similar claims, including mass merchants rolling out smaller-format stores.

Why do consumers feel so overwhelmed today? I think it’s partly the pressure that millennials in particular put on themselves to learn everything they can about anything they consume. Needing to scrutinize so many product labels to identify the origin of every ingredient could turn what should be a quick shopping trip into a daylong outing. Encountering several brands of a desired item must at times cause paralyzing frustration.

As more and more national brands and store brands jump on the wellness bandwagon, I can imagine a millennial melting down like Vladimir Ivanoff and shouting with rising anguish, “Quinoa, quinoa, quinoa, quinoa, quinoa, quinoa, quinoa!” in the vegan snacks aisle.

Be that as it may, I don’t fault Lidl and others for leveraging the word “curate,” which has become all the rage in retail and cyberspace and the rallying cry of a generation, with some websites even providing tips on how to lead a “curated life.” But I am worried about the erosion of choice.

In the short run, consumers’ desire for simplicity and their diminishing loyalty to national brands could be beneficial for grocery retailers with strong store brands, and not just the deep discounters like Lidl and Aldi that follow a private brand business model. Recent articles in the Wall Street Journal and on CNBC.com emphasize that grocery shoppers increasingly are eschewing big-name brands in favor of fresh food and store brands.

But if iconic national brands fail, surviving only as museum artifacts, where will that leave store brands? Ultimately, without national brands to imitate, benchmark against or complement — without big-name manufacturers investing heavily in research & development and marketing — all of the product development (and risk) would need to come from retailers and their private brand suppliers.

Would this lead to less innovation? Maybe not. Richard Bode, a principal consultant with Cadent Consulting Group, points out that because private brand manufacturers are typically smaller than those producing the national brands, they have less bureaucracy and, thus, can respond more quickly to changing consumer tastes. In addition, it’s easier for regional manufacturers and grocery retailers to deliver “locally made” packaged goods to the consumer, supporting one of today’s hottest trends.

Nevertheless, I worry that the potential demise of national brands in certain categories could lead to fragmentation or even a paucity of choice, at least in the center store, perhaps affecting rural and inner-city areas and lower-income populations the most. “Farm to table” might become the only option rather than the preference of young urban and affluent consumers.

Health-conscious millennials are dramatically disrupting the grocery business. On the bright side, they are influencing other generations to eat better and try tasty new products. However, they have some exaggerated concerns about processed food. It’s millennials’ hyper-vigilance about food that overwhelms them and wastes their time, in my opinion, not the huge array of choices.

Food phobia is as unhealthy as Deep-Fried Twinkies.  If Nestlé sells it candy business and other major brands reinvent themselves or go under, will we be happy with what remains?

To get a glimpse of what such a future might be like, just look at the products on Brandless.com. It will only take a minute of your time.

Schierhorn, the managing editor of Store Brands, can be reached at [email protected].